


Retrograde

by Ikuna



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2671979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikuna/pseuds/Ikuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Washington has spent the last four years relentlessly searching for the man responsible for the death of his friends, but when a new group of heroes make an appearance, Washington's goal of hunting the man down just got more difficult.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retrograde

Wash stood on top of a building, some 15 stories high. It was half past midnight, and the night had been quiet. It wasn't too strange, considering Valhalla’s winters sent most inside, even criminals. 

The nights breeze blew cool air on his overheated skin, creating some momentary relief from his overly hot leather outfit. 

Wash scanned the streets below him quickly, but he spotted no more than a few cars and walking pedestrians. The police radio had been dead quiet, too. 

He sighed and stood up from his crouched position over the ledge of whatever building he happened to be on tonight. 

It's been days since there were any criminal activity, normally that'd be great, but in Valhalla, the city run by gangs and mobs, and the corrupt police- it was worrisome. Wash knew that something was happening, and he would find out what. 

Wash leaped to the next building, landing on his feet with a silent 'thud'. He continued the momentum, jumping to the next building, and the next. Finally, he made it to his destination. It was a part of town that criminals loved to hang out in (Wash had to dryly chuckle at that thought, what part of town weren't criminals hanging out in, nowadays?) 

Wash pulled out a pair of small night vision binoculars out of his utility belt. He scanned the area, hoping to find at least one criminal. After five minutes, he came up with nothing. He grunted in frustration, about to angrily put away his binoculars when he caught site of something as he was turning away. 

In a dark alleyway about six blocks away, there was movement. He put the binoculars back up to his face, with the help of the night vision he saw around four people, though what they were doing was concealed by the alleyway wall. 

Wash quickly put away his binoculars and jumped into action. He jumped to the next building, which was taller than the one he was currently on, but he managed to grip the roof with his hands and easily pull himself up. Within a few minutes he managed to get to the building next to the alleyway. 

He peered down at the alley, thankful it was a cloudy night so there was no chance of him being seen. Wash noted there were, indeed, four people. Three stood at the opening of the alley, and the last one stood at the dead end. 

They were shouting at each other, the person at the end of the alley was yelling about how they were about to get 'owned' and that they 'fucked with the wrong person'. The people at the opening just laughed, asking him exactly what he was going to do against the three of them with no weapon. 

It was three thugs, it looked like, Wash figured that the three at the opening of the alley attempted to mug the one in the end of it, and they ran, ending up in the terrible position of the dead end. Washington was about to jump down and help the person, though just then, the clouds opened up, revealing the rather full moon. Wash moved back slightly, careful that his shadow wouldn't give away his position. Something gleamed from down below in the alley, by the victim. Wash quickly took out his binoculars and looked at the person more closely. 

He was wearing a helmet, from the looks some sort light blue. 

Wash cursed before putting his binoculars back away, “You have to be fucking kidding me...” 

The thugs started to advance into the alley at the person in the helmet, who seemed to have the same idea. 

Wash cursed again, just his luck. He hopped down, using the fire escapes to help him go down faster. 

The thugs got the jump on the guy, though. One of the thugs kicked at him, hitting him right in the side. 

“Fuck.” The masked man paused, losing his momentum and leaving himself open. The thugs took the invitation, the biggest one stepping up and bringing his large fist down upon the idiot, but Wash got there first.

Wash approached the man in the helmet from behind, grabbing the back of his collar and all but throwing the man behind himself. He heard a choking sound and some profanities in form of a question, though Wash didn't pay him too much mind. 

The big thug lost his balance at the loss of a target, and Wash took full advantage of that. He spun and aimed a kick at the guys temple. He hit his mark perfectly, the punk was out before he hit the ground, and Wash quickly changed his target. 

The two that were left were both of average height and weight, after assessing them Wash came to the conclusion that neither were going to pose a challenge to him. He was more muscular and had about 5 inches on both. It would be easy. 

“Who the fuck are you?” The one on the right called, they were both tense and in fighting positions, though it was plain to see neither truly knew how to fight. They stood about 15 feet away from Wash, it would be a quick two seconds to get to them. 

When Wash fought, he preferred decisive blows, hits that'll knock out the enemy instantly, he wasn't into fanfare like some other people he knew, but he liked to get the job done fast. The longer a fight went on, the more likely he'll make a mistake, and mistakes cost lives. Washington learned not to make any, the slightest mess up could lead to someone being killed, and he'd never let that happen again. 

Wash didn't answer the thugs, he never did. He never gave himself a name. The thug on the right grew frustrated after the moment of silence, “Are you deaf?” Washington deduced he was the leader of the group, the leaders were the ones that talked. So Wash decided to go after the guy on the left, it was more likely that the boss would stay out of the fight if he fought his lackey first, rather than the other way around. 

Wash sprinted down the alley, and in no time at all, sent a punch at the grunts jaw. The shorter man managed to react in time to scoot back a few inches so Wash's punch hit just his chin. It was enough to tip the man off his balance, however. 

He fell to the left, slightly. Reaching into his own jacket, the thug pulled out a knife. 

Wash scoffed. As if a short piece of sharp metal would intimidate him. 

The thug acted, lunging at Washington. Wash dodged to the left, the man flew past him, barely managing to catch his footing, before turning back towards Wash and lunging again. This time he held the knife in his outstretched right hand, hoping Wash would have a harder time escaping the sharp metal. He was wrong.

Wash ducked under the mans outstretched arm, sweeping his right leg under the man's own legs. The thug fell flat on his face, Wash, not wasting a moment, rolled back on to his feet and kicked the man in the head, immediately knocking him unconscious. 

“Don't move,” He heard a voice from behind him, the leader. Wash glanced over his shoulder, the criminal was holding a pistol pointed right at Wash. “I said; don't move!” There was a quiver in his voice and his arm was shaking. 

It was obvious he had never done something like this before.

Down the alley, the kid in the helmet made a step forward. Wash quickly made what he hoped was eye contact, and quick shook his head 'no'. That kid was in way over his head, that much was obvious. He didn't want to get him shot, too. 

“Now, I'm going to walk away, and you and Captain Helmet-”

“Hey!”

“Aren't going to stop me, 'kay?” 

Washington said nothing. He glanced one more time at the thug, who was beginning to take his first step back out of the alley. Wash let out a dry laugh, before acting. 

He spun around and lifted his leg into the air. His leg connected with the criminals hand, knocking the gun right out of it. Next, Wash rushed forwards and grabbed the side of the mans head and brought up his knee, then smashed his head down. 

The man staggered away with a long groan. He crouched, holding his head in his hands. 

Washington walked over to him, spun him around to grab his collar and sent his left fist into the side of his face. And just like that, he was unconscious. 

Wash looked at the man on the ground and picked up his pistol, “Next time you want the threaten somebody, make sure the safety is off.” Wash began to put the pistol into one of the gun holsters he was carrying when he heard a low whistle from behind him. 

“Holy fucking shit, dude.” The helmet guy came up behind him. Wash paused for a moment, before putting the gun away. He clenched his fists. 

Was this kid serious?

“That was like, pretty much the coolest thing I've seen ever. And I've seen a ton of shit-” Wash stood up and turned around, grabbing the guys collar and pushing him against the nearest wall. “What the fuck-”

“What do you think you're doing?” Wash asked, glaring at the other man. 

“I was trying to thank you for saving my ass!” The wannabe vigilante yelled back, his right hand grabbing at one of the arms Wash held him against the wall with. “So what the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem is wannabe vigilante's like you. You almost got killed today, kid. What about when I'm not around to take care of the bad guys with the guns? I've seen tons of kids like you who think they can just dress up like their favorite superheroes and-” 

“First of all, asshole, I'm not a kid. I'm a fucking adult and I can make my own decisions. And second of all,” Wash heard a 'woosh' sound and then there was a glow and a slight sound of humming in his ear. “I can fucking handle myself.” 

A few inches from Wash's neck, there was a glowing energy. It was hard to describe, but it was a mix of colors and was illuminated. Washington had experience with an array of different super powers, but this was new. It was shaped as a sword, it began at the middle of his forearm. It was strangely warm. 

“Tucke- I mean- Gladios? Are you around here?” A voice called from around the corner, catching Wash and Gladios by surprise. Wash turned back to the man, deadpanned.

“Your name is 'sword' in Latin?” Wash has heard some less than clever names before, but this had to be high on the list. “Let me guess, it has something to do with your energy sword?” 

Gladios sputtered, “Fuck you, asshole! You have no idea how hard it is, coming up with a name!” Gladios' friend rounded the corner and immediately spotted the two of them. Wash still held him against the wall, and Gladios' still held his sword to Wash's throat. 

“Oh, you made a new friend! That's nice.” 

“Why did Alpha have to send him, of all people?” Gladios mumbled under his breath. 

Wash quickly stepped back from Gladios, letting go of his collar. He glanced at the new guy in the alley way, like Gladios, he also wore a helmet, but more of a royal blue. It made Wash's blood boil, ever so slightly. He took a quick breath to calm himself. 

“Tie these men up, then contact the police.” Wash said, directing it at Gladios, who turned in surprise,

“Wait, you're leaving?” 

By the time he asked, Wash was halfway up the fire exits of the apartment building he originally was on, before fighting the punks. 

It didn't matter what that kid said to Wash, they were obviously imitations. Gladios couldn't handle the one guy on his own, and his back up thought Washington and his partner were friends, while both displayed clear acts of aggression. Wash honestly wouldn't be too surprised if they turned up on the news dead for wannabe vigilantism, energy sword or not. 

Tucker watched as the vigilante parkoured up the fire escapes on the building in front of them. 

Tucker had a hard time wrapping his mind around what just happened. First, Simmons alerted him to a disturbance, he was the closest and since there were only three of them, he decided to take them on by himself. It was a mistake. It was his first 'mission' (if you can call it that) alone, he thought he could handle it, but he had a few... mishaps along the way. 

The first of which was going in alone. Three on one, super power or not, wasn't one of his proudest thoughts. Hell, Simmons even warned him not to, did he listen? Hell no. Tucker was sure he could take on a few assholes, and that was his second mistake. 

Tucker could admit when he fucked up, and he majorly fucked up. Always check the alley you go into, and the alley he went into had to be a fucking dead end. Of course. So he ended up cornered. He called for back up, hoping for Alpha (but his bad luck strikes again), and that's when mister mask and leather showed up and kicked all three of those thugs' asses in under 5 minutes. 

Then he was baby talked by that asshole? Then he basically disappeared into the night like he was some asshole from a comic book. 

Weirdest. Fucking. Night. Ever. 

With a sigh, he pushed the button on the side of his helmet that turned on his radio, “Hey Alpha, it's Gladios. I'm okay, some guy in leather and a mask showed up and saved my ass. All three of the guys are knocked out and we're tying them up now, over.” 

Tucker watched as Caboose started zip tying the thugs' hands together, behind their backs. They were, luckily, still unconscious.

“Gladios, this is Alpha,” Alpha was their leader. He basically brought them all together and created their team. They called themselves Blue Team, and despite what leather guy happened to say, they were a group of kickass superheroes. “I'm on my way right now, and what do you mean, 'guy in leather and a mask'? Over.” 

“Well, while I was waiting for you and Captain fucking Strong, over there, to show up, the thugs decided they didn't like my stalling tactics when some guy comes out of nowhere and takes care of all three of them in minutes. One of them even had a gun, but he took care of it like, crazy fucking fast. He left as soon as Captain Strong decided to make his appearance, over.” 

“And you couldn't even get a name out of him?” Alpha said, coming from around the corner. 

Well, his name wasn't Alpha (if it was, that'd be pretty sad). He went by Church, and he was a major fucking asshole. 

“Chur- I mean, Alpha! You're back!” Caboose exclaimed way too loudly. Tucker would've rubbed his temples to relieve the headache he was getting, if it wasn't for his helmet. 

“Fucking finally, dude! What took you so long?”

“Hey, I'm here, aren't I? Be more appreciative.” Church waved Tucker off, making his way, instead, to the thugs, one of who was coming too. 

Tucker just rolled his eyes before joining him. 

Church lightly slapped the thug who was waking up on his face, Tucker recognized that it was the one who had the gun. “Hey, hey, you awake? Come on buddy you can do it,” the man groaned, shaking his head a little. From the way he was hit, Tucker figured he was seeing stars. The guy's eyes became more clear after the encouragement Church supplied. “There we go, awesome job buddy. So, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you're going to answer them, sound good?”

The guy just scoffed and turned away. 

“Okay, how about this. How about, if you answer all of my questions, I'll let you and your friends go. No strings attached, you like that?” That got his attention. He turned back to Church with a raised brow,

“What do you want to know?” 

Church met Tucker's eyes and gave a slight nod, that was the signal. Tucker walked away, going into the dark of the alley. He hit the radio button on his helmet a few times, and he was connected with the police. He gave them their location and they were one their way. Tucker walked back, standing opposite to Church and the criminal, he held up three fingers, meaning the police were going to be there in three minutes. 

Church gave a quick nod of acknowledgment before finishing up his questioning. Their leader stood up when he was done, the police would be here in just over thirty seconds and they could here the sirens a few blocks off. 

“Time to go,” Church said, gesturing with his head for the other two members of Blue Team to follow. 

“Wait, you said you'd let us go!” He was struggling against his zip ties.

“Oh yeah, I lied. Sorry 'bout that.” And with that Blue Team ran. They escaped just in time as the cops pulled up. 

They ran far enough away, then hid in the shadows to call for a ride. 

“So, what'd the punk say?” Tucker asked after Church finished the call. 

“Something about how something big is happening, which is why the streets have been empty for a while. They don't work for anyone, which is why they were out. Figured they'd be able to score big while the other players weren't around.”

Tucker sighed, “Something big, huh?” Great. First mask guy and now basically all the criminals in the city were conspiring with each other. “Well, time to debrief the other guys.” Their vehicle pulled up next to them. 

Tucker couldn't help but feel a slight buzz of excitement, though.

“Washington?” The barista, Sarah, called his name. She sent him a smile as he grabbed his coffee from her, Wash nodded in return. 

Usually Wash would sit and stay for a bit, but it was bustling today, and he hated crowds. He was about to leave when his ears perked at what was on the T.V. mounted on the wall. He turned his full attention to what the news anchor was saying. 

“... Today strikes the fifth year anniversary of, what some people call, the massacre of the Freelancers.” Wash's heart jumped. 

It's been a while since he's heard that name. 

He squeezed his coffee cup a little tighter. “For those of you who do not know, the Freelancers were once a group of superheroes, they devoted their lives to keeping Valhalla's citizen's safe from the criminals who rule this city. It was an unfortunate day for all of us when many of the members were found dead in a warehouse on the East side of town. It is important that we all take a minute out of our day to remember those heroes and to honor their memory by being just a little more super ourselves.” The woman smiled at the camera then looked to the other anchor. 

“Actually Lina, there is some interesting news this afternoon. It seems that the Freelancers work have been inspiring to so many of us, that some have even decided to put on their own helmets.” 

Wash's eyebrows furrowed, his thoughts flashed back to the previous night where he met the two helmet wearers. 

A picture came up on the screen, it was blurry and dark, however it was obvious it featured the two he met not 10 hours ago. There was also a third figure that Wash couldn't quite see. 

“These three were seen running from a crime scene where a few criminals were tied up. The criminals have just been indited for a few crimes, including petty theft and assault.” She continued. Lina, the other anchor nodded, 

“I say it's about time we had a new set of heroes, Valhalla has been overrun by criminals long enough. It's nice to see some good souls step up to the plate to protect our...” 

Wash's ears were ringing. The voices on the T.V. faded with the mundane sounds of the coffee shop around him. 

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath. Wash reminded himself that it didn't matter, he was still out there every night. He would never forget his friends, even if the media did. 

“... ington? Washington? Excuse me, Washington?” He was brought back to present to the sound of his name, he whipped his head to the origin. Sarah, the barista. She was looking at him with wide eyes, Wash could tell it was a look of concern, and maybe a little discomfort. “Are you okay?” She looked down and Wash followed her vision and noticed his hand was covered in the hot coffee. 

Wash tilted his head, wondering how it happened for a moment, before realizing that his hand was tightly clenched around his styrofoam cup, forcing almost all of the liquid onto his hand. His hand was steaming but he didn't feel any pain. He never did, not anymore. 

“I'm fine.” Wash grumbled, tossing the now empty cup in the trash on his way out the door. 

Those helmet wearing wannabe's might think they were doing the right thing, but Washington would find them, and when he did, he would make them stop. Even if he had to use force.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, first RvB fic! It's actually been quite a few years since I've wrote any fanfiction, so forgive me for any mistakes I make! This'll be a learning process to me!
> 
> And if you were curious about my face!canon's, for Wash I use synnesai's headcannon for Asian (specifically Korean) Wash!
> 
> So this is like my third hobby? I'm an editor, then a cosplayer, and then I write, so this might be pretty sporadic depending on school and work, but I hope I'll be able to update it pretty frequently! (I feel like I had a lot to say but now I can't remember sigh)
> 
> here's my tumblr: wrathofwrathia.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned~


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